Title: Sacrifice
Summary: The consequences of lying to the FBI.
Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.
Spoilers: Episode 1.18, Loa Aloha.
A/N: I don't really know what to say about this one. I wanted to write something about the threat of obstruction charges the FBI made in the aftermath of what happened in the episode….
BTW, I didn't do much research on some of the things I mentioned, so please forgive any inaccuracies and flights of fancy.
Thanks to GibbsRules for the beta. All remaining mistakes are mine.
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Chapter One: Gone
After I leave the airport I begin to drive aimlessly around the island. At some point, I drive past a bus stop with an ad for visiting Pearl Harbor. And, that's when it dawns on me to call in and check with my partner even if I'm not really in the mood to talk to anyone. I'm content for now to wallow in guilt and self-loathing about not being able to save my brother. But knowing the giant freak, if I didn't at least let him know I'm OK, he'd move mountains, and in our case possibly even volcanoes, just to find me.
I turn on to a side street and park before dialing Steve's number. It barely rings once before going directly to voice mail. It's definitely not what I'd expected, but I'm not going to question my good fortune either. When the beep sounds I say, "I was too late to stop him." I pause unsure I'd be able to really say anything more over the phone. "Thanks for, uh…thanks." I hang up. I know he'll want to hear the whole story at some point, but right now that's all I've got.
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In the end, my unplanned stop at Rachel's house served no other purpose but to magnify my feelings of guilt and failure when it came to my family. Though the comfort Rachel provided was welcome and a temporary shelter from the storm, I knew telling Grace about her Uncle Matt would be hell. Of course that hell would be nothing compared to the agony of telling my sisters and especially my parents come the morning.
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Even though I told Grace only the most basic version of what was going on with her uncle, she had not taken the news at all well. It took a couple of hours and both her parents to calm her down enough to finally go to sleep. I felt like a steaming pile of crap for leaving my daughter like that, but despite Rachel's invitation to stay the night, I just needed some time to myself before I phoned my parents and destroyed the perfect image they had of their younger son.
I spent the majority of the night, once I actually got home, staring wide awake at my ceiling. My mind just would not stop. Memories of my childhood with Matt and our last few days together kept going round and round in my brain never once slowing down enough for me to get any sleep. At some point in the hour just before dawn, I give up trying and get up for the day. I make some strong coffee hoping the caffeine will help me be more alert. I really want to add a little Irish to my coffee, but don't knowing I still need to call my parents. It's highly likely that I'll need it even more after talking to my family.
But first, I need to place another call. And again, Steve's phone goes directly to voice mail. Weird, I think to myself.
"Steve, I'm going to be late this morning. Got some family matters to deal with."
When I hang up this time, I can't help but wonder why I haven't heard from my partner by now. It's not like him. In fact, I sort of half expected a visit from him by now. For the time being I have to let his unusual and oddly disappointing behavior go.
It's time for me to call my family back in New Jersey.
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I finally make it to HQ around 11 AM. Talking to my family about Matty had been almost too much for me. As devastated as I was about my brother, my parents were that much more devastated and grief-stricken.
When I enter our office, both Kono and Chin come out to meet me.
"Where have you been, brah? We were starting to worry about you," Chin inquires.
Kono looks towards the door I came in like she's expecting someone and adds, "Where's Steve?"
I start to answer Chin's question when Kono's finally registers in my exhausted mind.
"Wait. What? What do you mean 'Where's Steve?' He isn't here yet?"
"No, man. We haven't heard from him all morning," Chin begins. Then Kono continues saying, "Your phone was continuously busy every time we tried it. And, we've both tried calling Steve's cell several times, but it keeps going straight to voicemail."
"Yeah, me too," I say and lift my hand up to try to rub some of the tension out of my neck. "The last time I saw him was at my brother's hotel…" I give them a quick, mostly unemotional, rundown of what had been going on the last couple of days with my brother.
I leave out what really happened at the airport figuring it'd be best if I kept it to myself. Knowing my partner though, he wouldn't stop his own special brand of pestering until I told him the whole truth of what happened at the airport. I conclude by saying, "There's no reason that I know of as to why he shouldn't be here right now."
Kono puts a hand on my arm and says, "Danny, I'm so sorry about your brother. Is there anything we can do?"
"Thanks for that. But, no. Matt's a fugitive. There's really nothing any of us can do for him unless he decides to turn himself in." I walk towards the computer table and turn towards Chin, "Have you tried tracking Steve's cell?"
"Not yet," he says as he starts programming the computer to do just that. A minute or so later, I hear Chin make a noise of frustration.
"What is it?" I ask.
"GPS is off and I can't remotely activate it."
"Why not?" Kono interjects.
Chin types in a few more commands, but then shakes his head. "I don't know. The only things I can think of are: the phone's damaged or destroyed, the battery was removed, the chip itself was removed, or any of those things in combination."
"Removed?" I lift my hand to rub my eyes. This can't be happening. Not today. "Why would he—?"
My cell phone ringing interrupts my train of thought. I look at the caller ID: Governor Jameson.
Damn. Can't we catch a break? I think. We've hardly closed the last case and haven't even started the paperwork yet. And now Steve might be missing…
"Governor. What can we do for you this morning?"
What she proceeds to tell me renders me nearly speechless. My expression and inability to speak properly instantly put Kono and Chin on alert, their faces full of concern. The governor finishes explaining the situation to me and asks if I have any questions.
"Why weren't we told before now?"
The governor's reply is curt and I can tell she's just as unhappy as I am at the news she's had to relay to me. I ask her one final question before she can hang up though I'm pretty sure I won't like her answer.
I am not disappointed.
I definitely did not like her answer.
"Thank you for informing us, Governor. … Yes, we'll let you know if we need any help."
After I hang up, I immediately put my phone in my pocket because if I didn't, then I'd probably end up hurling it across the room.
"Well?" Kono asks. "Was that about Steve?"
"Steve—," I pause trying to gather my thoughts, "Steve was unexpectedly recalled for reservist duty. At the request of the FBI, he'll be assisting them in a classified operation."
I can see Chin has questions, but I hold a hand up to stop him from speaking.
"Normally the Navy Reserves requires only one weekend a month and two weeks a year, but up until now that had been waived given the nature of Steve's duties as leader of Five-0. The Governor was taken by surprise and is definitely not pleased to say the least. She has no idea why she wasn't informed before now or when he'll be back though she was assured that it'd be 'soon'." I mimic a pair of air quotes as I finish relaying the bad news.
I then close my eyes and take a deep breath before conveying the governor's orders. "We're to keep going without Steve and let her know if we need any extra help."
After a few moments, Chin is the first to break the silence, "The Navy and the FBI don't normally work together. If anything it would be NCIS and not the FBI."
"Maybe Steve had a particular skill set they needed," Kono throws out.
"Yeah. Maybe," I mumble unconvinced while thinking back to a conversation about specialties and being recruited that Steve and I had had some weeks ago.
"You think something else is going on?" Chin asks.
I nod and reply, "I do. Don't you think the timing is a little too suspicious? We both just have dealings with the Feds and then suddenly Steve's been practically shanghaied by them?"
Chin shifts his stance and asks, "You don't think this has anything to do with the lie Steve told about your brother's escape plan, do you?"
I run my hand distractedly over my mouth. "It's exactly what I'm thinking. Damn it!" I yell slamming my hand on the computer table and then welcoming the painful sting my action causes.
"Danny, it's not your fault," Kono tries to soothe.
"Damn straight it is! Super SEAL just can't help himself! He throws himself into every situation without considering the consequences. And now, he's God knows where being forced to do God knows what!"
"Boss knew what he was doing," Chin speaks before I can really get going. "He did what he did for you – his partner, his friend. Have you ever not known him to do whatever it took to help one of us?"
"No. I haven't," I concede then turn and start walking towards the exit. I call out over my shoulder as I head through the door, "I'm going out. I'll be back in a couple of hours."
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I head to Steve's place to see if I can satisfy my curiosity a bit and find some answers. How had things gone down once I left to try and stop my brother?
When I arrive, I see that Steve's truck in the driveway, but it's not in its usual place. A few seconds search leads me to find my partner's keys sitting on top of the rear wheel on the side of the truck closest to the house. Steve would never be so careless. I use the keys to open his truck and find all the personal belongings I usually see him carry including his badge and ID. His cell phone is in pieces with its GPS chip removed and the battery missing. What worries me the most though is the discovery of his service weapon in its holster with its full clip of ammo removed, along with an unchambered bullet and the spare clips he usually carries.
What the hell kind of help could the FBI need that required Steve to be stripped of his identity and weapon?
I don't bother to check inside the house as I'm pretty certain that Steve never made it back here last night and was shipped out with only the clothes on his back.
There's no way to track Steve. It seems the only option left is to remain patient and hope he'll come back in one piece – so I can beat the crap out of him for pulling this idiotic stunt.
On second thought…
I grab his gun to be on the safe side and his cell phone on a whim. Then I lock his truck back up; taking his keys with me. It seems I'm not quite ready to give up just yet.
It's entirely possible that Steve was able to leave us a clue. I grab my phone and dial Chin's number.
"You find anything?" he inquires as soon as the call connects. I smirk and thank God for such a great team before answering:
"His truck was there with all his personal belongings inside. I'm bringing his cell phone back with me. They took the battery – can you work around that?"
"No problem."
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When I return, Chin informs me that Kono, needing something to do until I came back, has gone out for some food. I don't feel like eating, but if it keeps the rookie's mind off of everything for a little while, then I'd be willing to try anyway.
I secure Steve's gun before handing his phone over to Chin. He digs something out of his pocket. A cell phone battery?
"Where did you get that?"
"Given how some of our days go, I thought it wise to have spare batteries and chargers for each of our phones."
I clap a hand to his shoulder and smile, "Good thinking."
Chin inserts the battery, turns on the phone and then sets it on the computer table. He punches some keys and a few seconds later, I can see a lot of data streaming. Not much of what I'm seeing is making any sense, but I can tell Chin is absorbing it all. I turn, cross my arms, and lean against the table impatient but resigned to wait for him to finish analyzing the data.
"I found something," Chin distractedly says after several minutes. "There were no calls made or received from about an hour and a half after you left the hotel. No texts either. But, I found this," he says as he throws the words onto the overhead screens, "text in the drafts folder. I guess the FBI weren't as smart as they thought they were."
I know Chin is still speaking, but I can't hear anything over the roar of the beating of my heart as I continue reading the text message Steve obviously left for me.
"FBI THRTND OBSTRUC CHRG MADE DL 2 DROP M NOT UR FAULT! MY CHOICE"
My mind goes blank but I can hear Chin reading the text aloud. "FBI threatened obstruction charge. Made deal to drop them. Not your fault! My choice."
"That bastard!" I shout out and storm towards my office nearly bumping into Kono as she comes back from the food run.
"Hey!" she exclaims as she tries not to drop the food she's carrying. I don't apologize. Flinging my office door open, I drop into my desk chair before turning it to face away from the door.
I'm done.
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To be concluded…
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Thanks for reading!
